THE Chancellor of the Exchequer said she is “staggered” by an alleged conflict of interest in the shadow cabinet linked to billions of pounds of Russian assets frozen in Jersey.
The Island was drawn into the middle of an escalating aid dispute earlier this year after it emerged that Shadow Attorney General, Lord David Wolfson KC, is part of the legal team representing Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich as he attempts to recover more than £5.3 billion of assets frozen in Jersey.
UK Justice Minister Jake Richards, who has political responsibility for the Crown Dependencies in Westminster, wrote a strongly-worded letter to Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch on the matter.
He said that Mr Abramovich’s legal position was that the Jersey case is delaying the release of more than £2.35 billion from his sale of Chelsea Football Club, which the former owner pledged to help victims of the war in Ukraine.
That, said Mr Richards, placed the Shadow Attorney General in a “clearly compromised” position.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, has now added her voice to the criticism.
“Like many, I was staggered by reports that senior counsel appointed by Mr Abramovich in relation to proceedings in Jersey include the Shadow Attorney General,” she said.
“I cannot speak for the opposition – I had many years of doing that – but our focus remains ensuring that there is no further delay in proceeds from the sale of Chelsea football club reaching humanitarian causes in Ukraine.
“If Mr Abramovich fails to act quickly, this government are fully prepared to pursue legal action to release the funds.
“We know whose side we are on: we are on the side of the Ukrainian people, and of Britain’s national interests.”
